Alexander mcleod



(No Model.)

A. M oLEOD.

BOTTLE CLOSURE.

Patented De0.21,1897.

' A TTOHNE rs.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALEXANDER MOLEOD, OF BRISBANE, QUEENSLAND.

BOTTLE-CLOSURE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 595,964, dated December 21, 1897.

Application filed May 14, 1897. Serial No. 636A40. (N0 model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALEXANDER McLEoD, of Brisbane, Queensland, have invented a new and Improved Bottle-Closure, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

The purpose of this invention is to provide means by which the cork or stopper of a bottle will be protected from the liability of being pierced by an instrument for withdrawing the cork, so as to prevent the removal of the cork unless the neck of the bottle be fractured.

I will now describe the invention, and in the claim will define the scope of the invention.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in both views.

Figure l is a sectional View of a bottle having my invention applied thereto, and Fig. 2 is a plan view of the blank for the form of the invention adapted for use in connection with bottles filled with fluid under pressure.

The bottle has its neck (1. provided with a cut or annular indentation a", which makes the mouth or upper extremity a of the neck capable of being readilyand evenly broken from the neck on the line of the cut or indentation c. The inner wall of the portion a of the neck is formed with a recess 6, extending all around and terminating in a shoulder b at the top.

The cork c is pushed into the neck so as to lie with the cut or groove a approximately at the waist of the cork and with the upper end of the cork slightly above the shoulder b of the recess 5. The cork is prevented from being pierced by an instrument for withdrawing the cork through the means of a circular metallic plate d. This plate is shown in the blank in Fig. 2 and is stamped from a piece of sheet metal with the arms 6 radiating therefrom. Each arm e has a spring-tongue e integral with the outer end of the arm and running inward parallel with the arm. The outer end of each arm e is made wider bythe respective tongues e, and these widened outer ends are each provided with points 6 The arms e are bent down perpendicularly from the plate d, and the tongues e are given spring tendencies outward, so that when the plate cl is rested upon the top of the cork c and the arms e confined between the cork and the inner walls of the neck of the bottle the fingers 6 will respectively project into the recess b and engage the shoulder 19 thereof. This will prevent the plate 61 from being lifted out of the neck of the bottle. The points 6 are bent inward fromthe arms e, so that when the arms are in their normal position, as shown in Fig. 1, the points 8 will pierce the cork c and serve to afford further means by which the plate may be connected with the cork. Pressure within the bottle may be exerted forcibly against the inner end of the cork 0 without displacing the cork, while it is impossible to drive an instrument into the cork, so asto withdraw the cork from the neck a of the bottle. To remove the cork, the mouth or upper portion a of the neck of the bottle should be broken from the main portion, whereupon the plate (1 may be readily taken off and the cork removed either by hand or by another instrument. 7

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- A bottle-closure, consisting in a plate capable of lying fiat against the top of a cork to prevent piercing the cork from the. top, the plate having arms projecting therefrom, the arms of reduced width adjacent to the plate and slitted lengthwise from the reduced ends to a point short of the outer ends, thereby forming on each arm an integral springtongue, the tongues running upward and inward alongside their respective arms, and the outer end of each arm being wider than the main portion each of said outer ends having a point, the spring-tongues being capable of engaging the bottle and the points being capable of piercing the cork.

ALEXANDER MOLEOD.

Witnesses:

E. GARLAND WELLS, FREDERICK MOLEOD. 

